2015-09-24 00:00:002015-09-24 00:00:00https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/resources/product-updates/which-version-of-quickbooks-online-is-right-for-your-clients/Product UpdatesEnglishQuickbooks Online is Available in three different versions, so the question is - What version of QuickBooks Online is best for you or your...https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/resources/au_qrc/uploads/2017/01/GettyImages-466319810.jpghttps://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/resources/product-updates/which-version-of-quickbooks-online-is-right-for-your-clients/Which Version Of QuickBooks Is Right For You? | QuickBooks Australia

Which version of QuickBooks Online is right for your clients?

Which QuickBooks Online plan is best for your client? The answer is not simply what they can afford, or the size of their business. The right solution is based on their business requirements.

Some questions to keep in mind include:

Do they need to track accounts payables?

Will they need to send out the same recurring invoice?

Will they need inventory?

Is budgeting important?

Do they need foreign currency transactions?

Will they need to track different departments?

Do they need to be able to track time?

Some of the above points are essential to decide which plan is right for your client.

Quickbooks Online is Available in Three Different Plans

QuickBooks Online has tiered monthly costs and additional features.

The three plans are:

Simple Start

Essentials

Plus

The consistent features across all three plans are:

Payroll free for up to 10 employees

Availability on all devices: PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone

BAS completion

Unlimited downloads of transactions from bank and credit card accounts

Quotes and invoices emailed directly

Reporting (available across all three versions but various reports are included as you go up in levels)

Two accountant user’s available in each file

Differences Between Plans

Simple Start: This is the most basic level of QuickBooks Online which would work for those businesses that have one single user only. It’s great for new businesses with basic bookkeeping needs. You can create an unlimited number of customers, quotes and invoices, and has free payroll up to 10 employees. It will not track your Accounts Payable and includes more than 20 reports.

Essentials: This includes all the features of Simple Start, and three users can access the file at the same time. This version has the ability to set up invoices on a recurring schedule and with automated emails. Essentials includes Accounts Payable, tracking, multiple currencies, remittance advices and expense receipts. This version includes more than 40 reports.

Plus: This plan is the top of the range and has the most features of any of the three. It contains features from both the Simple Start and Essentials plus lots more. It is available for five users and features Purchase Order tracking, inventory tracking, budgets, time tracking for employees and contractors and billable hours by customers. For businesses with multiple departments, each one can be tracked individually through locations or classes. It features more than 65 reports.

Let’s look at some different examples*. Look for the answers under the matrix below and reasons for that decision.

Example 1:

Brad owns a graphic design business. He has 15 employees, business is in three different states, and needs to track his income and expenses by location. He wants to send out Purchase Orders and needs to track time for his contractors. He wants the option to play with budgets and to allocate budgets to his staff for each location. He needs access for four staff plus himself on QuickBooks Online.

Example 2:

Janine runs a dance studio. She is the only user in the file and needs to invoice out to the customers and enter her expenses when she pays them. She doesn’t need to track her bills. She has two contractors that she pays straight away when they give her their bill. Janine wants to use online banking feeds, and will need to download transactions from three bank accounts and one credit card. She is also registered for GST so will need to process BAS quarterly.

Example 3:

Sharen runs a child mind facility. She has two employees, needs to manage and pay her bills and wants the ability to set up recurring invoices to be emailed out to her customers on a monthly basis to pay for the child minding. She will require three users in QuickBooks Online.

Example 4:

Andrea runs her online retail store from home so she will be the only user of QuickBooks Online. She buys and sells overseas and has no staff. She needs to create purchase orders for her overseas orders and to be able to email quotes to her customers here in Australia. Also, tracking Inventory is very important to her to track the goods that are sold and bought.

*Please note the number of users in these examples are not wholesale billing clients.

This matrix can help you work out which version would be best for each of the examples.

Classes and Locations required for different departments within the business

Up to five users allowed

As you can see the Plus plan has all the features – plus more – that a business would need to run their business efficiently and productively. Is the Plus version right for all businesses? Probably not. Take all the different features into consideration from the matrix when you are taking on a new business. Remember to ask the right questions to the business owner to help you decide if they fit the Simple Start, Essentials or Plus version.

Don’t forget you can upgrade any time if the business outgrows that plan but you cannot downgrade to a lower version. Help your clients make a smart business decision and get their bookkeeping and accounting in order with the right QuickBooks Online plan.

Information may be abridged and therefore incomplete. This document/information does not constitute, and should not be considered a substitute for, legal or financial advice. Each financial situation is different, the advice provided is intended to be general. Please contact your financial or legal advisors for information specific to your situation.